Australian National Accounts: State Accounts - Quarterly

OVERVIEW
Australian National Accounts: State Accounts (5242.0) contains quarterly income-based estimates of gross domestic product (referred to as gross state product (GSP)) and estimates of domestic final demand by state and territory. The term state final demand (SFD) is conceptually identical to domestic final demand at the national level (i.e. the sum of private and government final consumption expenditure and private and public gross fixed capital expenditures).

PURPOSE
State accounts are relevant when there are important gaps between the economic and social development of various regions of a country. The quarterly state accounts are designed to quickly identify changes of economic significance relating to specific regions.

SCOPE
Scope and coverage include all Australian resident units engaged in productive activity (as defined by the SNA).

DATA DETAIL

Conceptual framework
National estimates are based on the concepts and conventions embodied in the SNA, but for regional estimates there is no separate international standard. Although the national concepts are generally applicable to state accounts, there remain several conceptual and measurement issues that either do not apply or are insignificant nationally. Most of the problems arise in the measurement of gross state product for the transport and communication industries, where production often takes place across state borders. In these cases, a number of conceptual views can be applied to the allocation of production to states.

Main outputs
Contents include:

State Production Account and State Final Demand

Gross State Product and Real Gross State Income

Classifications
State and Territory

Other concepts (summary)
The state accounts share the central concepts of the national accounts. Although the national concepts are generally applicable, there remain several conceptual and measurement issues that either do not apply or are insignificant nationally.

The central concept in a national accounting system is economic production. Production is the process whereby labour, natural resources, accumulated capital assets and knowledge are applied to the provision of goods and services. The aim of the ANA is to cover the production of all goods and services which legally enter the market, and also that part of production which does not enter the market but for which it is possible to impute a value using closely related or analogous market transactions.

Although illegal goods and services are purchased in the market, and should be regarded as part of production, no attempt has been made to include them in the National Accounts because of the unavailability of adequate data. It is possible that some illegal activities may be included by default to the extent that moneys are laundered through legitimate activities. However, allowances are made to take account of the value of legal goods and services produced but not declared for income tax purposes.

Most goods and services provided by general government bodies (as distinct from public enterprises such as government railways) are not normally sold but are nevertheless regarded as part of production. In practice, they are valued at a cost comprising the total of the wages and salaries paid to the employees of general government bodies and the cost of purchased goods and services used including an allowance for the consumption of fixed capital. Similar considerations apply to non-profit institutions - examples are clubs, trade unions, chambers of commerce and churches - whose costs are largely or wholly met by members and benefactors so that the goods and services produced need not be sold at a commercially determined price. As with general government bodies, the production of non-profit institutions is valued at cost in the national accounts.

Imputations are made for some goods and services which are not sold in the market place and therefore are not amenable to direct measurement. Imputation is confined to a small number of cases where a reasonably satisfactory basis for the valuation of the implied transaction is available, and where their exclusion could result in distortions in the accounts.

COLLECTION HISTORY
First release of quarterly state accounts in May 1993. This release contained all components of quarterly state final demand in current and constant prices for the period September 1984 to December quarter 1992. During 1993-94 seasonally adjusted and trend estimates became available for all quarterly current and constant price state accounts series.